Men traded in their sneakers for heels on Thursday as they marched from the Student Union towards Capen Undergraduate Library to stop sexual violence and abuse.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a mile-long march through the campus that gives men a chance to trek in female shoes for a good cause. The rally began in the Flag Room where 100 men and women strapped on heels for the demonstration.
Students who witnessed the march were puzzled, but the energy from the marching mob turned many heads.
Tricia Rodgers, a freshman pharmacy major, was surprised to see the amount of people who came out and marched.
"There are so many guys walking around in heels. I think they are marching for a great cause, this is an issue that is not addressed enough and we should be able to go to a school we feel safe at," Rodgers said.
The high number of male participates at this year's event was taken as a good sign by organizers. The number has consistently increased since the events premiere at UB in 2006. In the first year, there were about 15 people total and only five or six men, according to organizers.
"This year, there were over 100 marchers and close to 50 percent of them were men," said Jane Fisher Director of Health and Human Services.
Kayla Maryles, an event coordinator and sophomore communication major, thinks the march successfully shed light on the sexual violence and abuse.
"A lot of people want to pretend like these things do not happen, but sexual assaults and rapes do occur so let's make a change and a difference," Maryles said. "I think we had an awesome turnout. There were almost if not more men here than women and that's great."
Fischer wanted to give both genders a chance to voice their opposition of sexual violence. She wanted to emphasize with this event that not all men are to blame for these crimes, rather only a few select people are sexual offenders.
"What I am really hoping they will take away is that they saw a number of men standing up for something," Fischer said. "We are anti-rape, anti-sexual violence, not anti-man and we want men to get behind this cause."
Many students who marched in the event felt it was a great way to raise awareness for sexual equality and gender violence.
"I hope that people watching can see that guys ... are devoted to stopping sexual or gender violence and they start thinking about these problems," said Jason Alonzo, a junior linguistics major, who participated in the march.
Raphael Rosenbaum, a sophomore exercise science major, hoped participating in the march would make a difference on campus.
"I hope that people's heads turn and people's attention will be focused on a good cause. There is not enough understanding about these issues on campus," Rosenbaum.
Educating and raising awareness were two major issues being addressed throughout the event.
During the event, Anti-Rape Task Force's (ARTF) educational coordinator Michael Shaffer gave a personal speech explained how he got involved with ARTF. During Shaffer's freshman year, a close female friend of his was raped at another university.
"We want men and women to know rape and sexual assault happens often, it is not only a women's problem, but men also have a responsibility to stop rape. This is a problem that affects many campuses, not just ours," he said.
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt was present at the event to award the ARTF $50,000 for a new van to be used to shuttle students from the bus stop to locations on South Campus.
Members of the UB Men's Group, the violence prevention group on campus comprised of male students who show support for sexual crimes and gender violence, were also at the event.
"This is our second year doing the event, we are here to show our support and let people know rape and sexual assault is not just a women's issue it's a male issue and men should get involved and be part of the solution," said Pedro Sotelo, a graduate student studying exercise science.
Additional Reporting by staff writer Jonathan Clayton
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
